


Ocean Eyes

by seawitcher



Series: Ashore [2]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pirate, Angst, M/M, Romance, Sirens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-27
Updated: 2019-05-27
Packaged: 2020-03-20 03:04:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18983917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seawitcher/pseuds/seawitcher
Summary: They say a siren’s song is what tempts men to their deaths. But to Chanyeol, the long-gone memories of his time spent with Baekhyun is what drives him to madness.





	Ocean Eyes

**Author's Note:**

> welcome to part 3 of my 5 year anniversary special! this time i bring you the sequel to my one and only chanbaek fic, filled to the brim with angst! this is for all of you who begged me for a continuation~ so please enjoy
> 
> i shed many a tear writing this, so i hope you do too! :3c

They say a siren’s song is what tempts men to their deaths. But to Chanyeol, the long-gone memories of his time spent with Baekhyun is what drives him to madness. 

After his daughter had come to him that day, Chanyeol couldn’t get the thought of the siren returning to him out of his mind. His long broken heart wanted to mend itself with that hope that he could see at least one of the people he loved again. If not his beloved late wife, Sooyoung, then the mystical summer love that was Baekhyun.

Yerim had taken him to the exact place on the beach where she had seen the “mermaid,” but he was long gone, leaving nothing but empty sand and high tides. Devastated, Chanyeol tried to control his disappointed expression when he sat down on a nearby bench to collect his thoughts, but his ever-attentive daughter saw right through him.

Her smaller hand placed something small in his hand, and when Chanyeol looked up, he saw it was one of those little starfish hair pins he’d given Baekhyun so long ago.

“You can have it, Papa. You look sad,” she said, sitting next to him with her bag of apples placed on her lap.

Chanyeol just smiled with somber eyes before sliding the hair pin back into his daughter’s hair. “You keep it. It looks good on you.”

It’s been a month since that day, but Chanyeol hasn’t given up on the idea of seeing Baekhyun again. Every sunset, after he’s closed up the bakery and is waiting for Yerim to come back from her lessons, Chanyeol sits on the bench by the beach. He watches the waves crash and hopes to see Baekhyun emerging from them, but it’s to no avail.

“Was he your friend, Papa?” Yerim asks him when she comes to join him on the bench.

“Yeah, something like that.” Chanyeol quirks a smile. “I met him when I was sailing all those years ago.”

“Before you met Mom?”

“Yes. He was a member of my crew back then.” It hurts to talk about, and Chanyeol feels like a fool. It was so many years ago, and he was only with Baekhyun for a handful of time. Perhaps he’s just haunted by the unknown - by the fact that he never was truly able to say goodbye to one of his first loves.

Yerim leans against her father and sets her smaller hand atop his. “He’ll come back, and you can be friends again.” She grins brightly up at him.

His daughter is truly the only reason Chanyeol is still living. He doesn’t feel as lonely when she’s around, and he wants to live long enough to see her grow up and achieve her own dreams like he had. Maybe she’ll have better luck and choose a path nicer than the life of a pirate.

Chanyeol hugs her close before picking her up, enjoying her giggles as he gets up from the bench. “Time to go home! I think we still have a piece of apple pie left, and it has your name on it.” He taps her cute little nose before making his way away from the shore and back towards town.

That night, when Yerim is put to bed and Chanyeol is lying in his own bed, staring up at the ceiling, he tells himself he’ll give up on his search for Baekhyun. A part of him thinks that Baekhyun doesn’t even want to see him, and it’s a useless pursuit in the first place. He can’t waste his time and energy on this anymore than he already has, and if fate is preventing them from ever meeting again then so be it.

Maybe it’s time he finally puts his heartbreak to rest.

 

A month or so passes and Chanyeol forgets about the siren who had taken over his heart once again. He moves on for the second time in his life and pours his energy into taking care of his bakery and his daughter. 

Money has been tight lately with the cost of Yerim’s schooling going up and Chanyeol struggling to adjust his budget to accommodate. Her education means the world to him, and he isn’t willing to give it up. It takes some time, but Chanyeol manages to snag a small job helping out some of the sailors at the port with the goods they bring in. It earns him a little extra coin even if it leaves him exhausted by the end of the day.

It’s worth it though. He’d sacrifice everything for Yerim if he could.

As winter moves in, the days become shorter, and Chanyeol gazes out at the orange sky as he finishes closing up shop and heads towards the harbor. The seagulls cry and the shouts of men are evident even in this calm twilight. Rolling up his shirt sleeves, Chanyeol walks down the pier and spots Captain Minho, who quickly directs him onto the ship to help with today’s imports.

It’s a little ironic for a past pirate captain to be helping out sailors, but it isn’t like any of these men know about his past. Chanyeol took on his late wife’s surname for a reason, knowing he wouldn’t be able to find any employment if the name “Park Chanyeol” was thrown around.

“Hey, Chanyeol!” Minho calls out to him as Chanyeol is walking back up the ramp to board the ship. He quickly turns around and walks back down to where the captain is standing, discussing something with a sailor from his crew.

“What is it?” Chanyeol asks, ignoring Minho’s glare at his lack of respect.

“One of our fishing nets went missing. Something probably got caught up in it and dragged it away to the shore. You know the area well, right? Go search for it,” Minho commands, crossing his arms.

Chanyeol resists the urge to roll his eyes. He’s always hated sailors and their damn arrogance. He can’t imagine why a simple fishing net needs to be saved, but Chanyeol nods and stalks off towards the shore to search for it anyways. Dolphins and smaller whales have been beached before when they get tangled in the nets, so it’s a strong possibility that some poor creature is suffering on the shore.

The wind whips his auburn curls around his face as he walks down the sandy shore. He doesn’t spot anything except for empty sand and the occasional craggly rock. The beach is empty at this time of day, nothing but peaceful, and Chanyeol would give up the search, but he doesn’t trust Minho to not dock his pay if he comes back empty-handed. It’s frustrating, and Chanyeol sighs as he stops to look at the waves.

It’s times like these where he misses the freedom of the sea. He misses his ship and his crew, misses when the world was his oyster, and he was free to do whatever he wanted. No day was boring, and even if the work was hard, Chanyeol always enjoyed it. It was the comradery, the pride, the power that kept him going, what helped him enjoy his youth. It was Chanyeol’s identity, and now he feels lost without it.

What is he? A baker? A father? A broke man?

Closing his eyes, Chanyeol listens to the peaceful sound of the waves crashing. It calms his mind, calms his exhausted body, and Chanyeol is able to relax for once. He smiles for a moment, imagining a sweet voice from so long ago singing nearby and pulling all the tension from his body.

Until he begins to realize that the voice isn’t in his head, and someone is singing nearby.

Chanyeol’s eyes open, and he turns his head towards the larger rocks that connect to a nearby cliff on the edge of the town. He runs towards them, hearing the voice become clearer and louder in his ears as he approaches. It’s almost perfect in its pitch and tone with some sort of magical undertone that draws him closer and closer to investigate.

There’s also something familiar about it, and when Chanyeol hefts himself over the rocks and onto the small piece of sandy shore hidden there, he realizes why.

Silver eyes meet his and the voice stops as the siren tangled in the net immediately freezes at the sight of Chanyeol. Baekhyun hasn’t aged a day in the eight years that have passed, but Chanyeol has never seen him in this form, with his long black tail and fins and the bluish gills on his neck. It has him speechless in more ways than one.

But most of all, it breaks Chanyeol’s heart into pieces, and the tears fall from his eyes before he can help it.

Baekhyun smiles with a saddened expression, exposing sharpened teeth. “Don’t cry, Chanyeol. You should be happy. You finally caught me.”

Chanyeol doesn’t even know how to respond, falling to his knees and reaching out to touch Baekhyun, making sure he’s not hallucinating. A pale hand worms its way out of the small gap in the net to hold his. It’s cold and wet to the touch, and long black nails threaten to pierce his skin, but Baekhyun’s hold is gentle. Almost as if he can’t believe that Chanyeol is really there either.

“I missed you,” Chanyeol manages to say and then words just begin to tumble out of his mouth. “Everyday. Did you not miss me? I’ve waited for you. Every single day, but you never came.” The tears don’t stop flowing.

Baekhyun drags himself closer across the sand and lifts his hand to gingerly wipe beneath Chanyeol’s left eye. “Meeting your daughter was an accident, but I couldn’t resist it. She’s adorable.” He sighs then, lowering his hand. “You don’t think I missed you too? It’s lonely out there, stuck like this. You were and  _ are  _ all that fills my mind, Chanyeol.”

Chanyeol was stupid to think that he’s the only one suffering. If anything, Baekhyun got the shorter end of the stick, cursed to remain in his siren form for the rest of his life. He must be lonely too.

“Then why?” Chanyeol sniffles, digging his hands into the wet sand. “Why did you avoid me?”

“We can never be together.” Baekhyun speaks the truth, and it burns like a dagger to Chanyeol’s heart. “It’s only going to hurt more when we have to part ways again. I thought that...by staying away, I could protect you. I suppose I failed.” He smiles, and Chanyeol can see his metallic eyes glistening with unshed tears.

Chanyeol moves to grip Baekhyun’s hand again. “We...We can still meet here. I don’t care that you aren’t human. I just want to see you.” He looks into the siren’s eyes, searching for some semblance of hope.

Instead, Baekhyun’s hand squeezes his once. “You have to let me go, Chanyeol. You have to forget about me.”

Chanyeol wants to scream and yell about how hard he’s tried, how much it’s ripped his heart to shreds every time. He’s wasted so much time trying and failing that he’s afraid of what will happen when he really does fully move on from Baekhyun, especially now that he knows Baekhyun’s out there, always watching.

“I can’t,” Chanyeol whispers.

Baekhyun says nothing, the sound of the waves crashing in the distance filling their silence. He looks into Chanyeol’s eyes, the brown becoming auburn like his hair with the reflection of the sunset. His captain still looks so young despite the years that have passed, but he’s no longer the strong-willed man Baekhyun once knew - and it’s his fault.

He’s taken so much from Chanyeol already, how could he take anymore?

Withdrawing his hand, Baekhyun tugs at the net he’s tangled in. “Do you think you could help me?”

Chanyeol wipes away his tears and nods, digging a pocket knife out of his pocket. Minho will probably be angry about his net being damaged, but Chanyeol couldn’t care less as he cuts away a hole big enough for Baekhyun to wiggle out of. He tugs the rest down his body, kicking it off with his tail.

He half-expects Baekhyun to make his exit then, but instead he pushes himself up by his hands and moves closer to Chanyeol until he’s nearly on his lap. It only takes the human a split second to realize what’s happening, and he tilts his head down as Baekhyun leans up.

Baekhyun’s lips are soft and salty from the seawater, and the kiss jumpstarts Chanyeol’s heart, taking him back to that garden where they first shared a kiss. It feels like so long ago but simultaneously like yesterday, and Chanyeol wants to clutch the siren closer and never let him go.

But Baekhyun soon breaks the kiss with a gasp and collapses to cling to Chanyeol’s shoulders. He is panting then, heaving heavy breaths, and when Chanyeol moves to hold him, he notices how dry Baekhyun’s skin is becoming.

They can’t be together.

“I have to go,” Baekhyun gasps and then Chanyeol hears a sob. “I have to go.” _ Don’t leave me. _

Chanyeol doesn’t move, tucking his face into Baekhyun’s neck. His hands tremble.

“Let me go,” Baekhyun begs, looking up as black liquid begins to stream down his cheeks. “Promise you’ll forget about me.  _ Promise _ .”

He can’t. He won’t. But Chanyeol has no choice but to nod, vision blurring with tears. “I-I promise.”

Chanyeol closes his eyes, clutching Baekhyun close one last time. He feels Baekhyun moving in his arms before something cold and hard is sliding into his hair. The last hairpin.

“I love you,” Baekhyun whispers, cupping Chanyeol’s cheek and leaving black residue behind. “Goodbye, Chanyeol.”

With the last of his energy, he breaks out of Chanyeol’s hold and turns to head back into the waves. He doesn’t look back, and Chanyeol’s arms fall limp to his side as he watches Baekhyun disappear into the water. It hurts more than the first time.

“I love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> this is where their story ends for real :(
> 
> kudos, comments, and bookmarks are appreciated!


End file.
